Vintage Japanese Vacuums :)

[rickenbacker]

Hey guys, since posting my last thread about the nifty little Hitachi, it reminded me to post this one. I am looking for information and pictures on vintage Japanese vacs. I vaguely remember somebody a few years ago posting a picture of the first Japanese vacuum, the name escapes me unfortunately. There are a number of reasons why I ask for Japanese vacuums specifically. Reasons being, There never seems to be much written about them, so in a way, they're almost a dark spot for western vacuum enthusiasts. Another reason being, because the Japanese have always given their own interesting twist on inventions so of course I was wondering what their take on our favourite appliance of them all would be!

Thanx, Charlie

 

[tolivac]

Remember a Mitshubishi vacuum at the dump out my way several years ago-couldn't get the dump operator to sell it to me-he wanted it for his thrift shop.the machine ran on 100V-it did run OK on 120V.Tried it in the dump operators "shack".It also had all of the attachments-sort of a strange machine-suction only and for its size-had a very tiny paper bag.The machine and bag had the Japanese "charactor" printing on them.

 

[gus]

Hi!. I used to have a Japanese vac. Toshiba. I bought it in 1981. It's a very good quality machine. Only the ''tubes'' (sorry I can't remember their name) failed. They became broken along their length. But the bag was astonishing: there was a cloth bag in the outside. It was square, then there was another bag made of polyuretane (like matresses) and finally there was a basket made of flexible nylon. Now a days it is still working at a friend's house, so it's 30 years old! It's a canister machine, very effective. Gus

 

[eurekaprince]

Sanyo had great canister vacs in the 1970's - lightweight, powerful and really quiet. Sears contracted some Kenmore "Let's Clean" canisters from Sanyo. Hated the "bagless dust cassette" technology though!

And don't forget the early Panasonics! They were the ancestors of a great line of Japanese made vacuum cleaners.....

 

[funvacfan]

I've got a Brother!

vacuum, that is. Same company that makes the printers, sewing machines, and other office machines. It is a lime green canister that takes bags. It has a Turbobrush that has a rubber agitator brush. Also an electronic speed control.

I bought it years ago on Ebay from "mixermagoo". I think he may be a member here.

Guy

 

[collector2]

Hey Brian:

Is this the Sanyo you were thinking of. Its really a great machine.

Doug

 

[collector2]

And how about the 69 -70 Hitachi.

 

[eurekaprince]

Doug - yes that's one of the very first Sanyo vacs sold in Canada.....can't remember if the one you are showing was bagless. My father was the advertising producer for Sanyo products imported into Canada from 1969-1989, so I remember them well. The later versions were even more lightweight and sleek - one had a red transparent dust cassette that you emptied. We owned a blue and white one with a dust cassette. Though the hose was short, I loved the on/off switch on the hose handle!!!

 

[collector2]

Hey Brian:

This Sanyo has a cloth bag in it. Its an excellent machine - wish I could find the small parts for it.

 

[eurekaprince]

Doug.....do the small tools store in the small compartment on top? I seem to remember that the woodgrain model had a tool caddy on top - maybe I'm wrong....

 

[tolivac]

At one radio station where I worked they had an old sanyo vac that resembled an Electrolux vacuum-the Sanyo had a cloth dump bag-simply dumpted it in the towerfeild when done vacuuming at the site with it.It vacuumed out the sites transmitters many times.

 

[collector2]

Yep the parts are surposed to be on top. It should have a kind of dusting brush / small nozzle combination, crevice tool and a 90 degree elbow - havnt found any of them.

 

[rickenbacker]

Thanks for the support guys!

These are all fantastic looking machines. Has anybody got any pictures of the earlier ones like Rex has posted about, the Mitsubishi type ones? I would love to see some of them, along with the others of course I saw a Hitachi canister like the one posted above on ebay a few years ago that I really wanted to buy but of course, like this recent Hitachi, I didn't have the money and my mum would disapprove lol

 

[collector2]

I have a 1960's Viking vacuum that was made by Panasonic. Love it. For body design its one of my favorites. It always reminded me of the design of the cars of that era.

 

[rickenbacker]

That's a handsome vac! I can see what you mean by resembling the cars of the era too. It looks like it could be a very practical vacuum. I would love to use one. I hope that more people see this thread and respond to it, it's an interesting topic to me and I know that I can get the best responses from you guys! Not that I'm trying to be pushy or anything


Charlie

 

[gsheen]

Found this thread while researching a sanyo model I am looking for.
I have collected quite a few Japanes vacuums.
This is a nice Toshiba my wife found for me

 

[gsheen]

This is one of my Hitachi vacuums
A cv2000.
As with most Japanese vacs of this era their was no paper bag but a reusable pleated filter.
You cleaned the filter by turning a crank which then ran little spines across the back of the filter shaking the dust out. A extra special part of this machine was the fact that the cord winder had a takeoff which also spun this crank on pulling out and retracting the cord thus leaving the filter clean for its next use

 

[gsheen]

My Sanyo upright vacuum